Security officers perform a vehicle check point at the entrance to Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan. / File photo/The Journal News

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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has yet to sign off on whether Indian Point’s security guards can continue to carry weapons that may violate state law — even as the agency proposes expanding the use of machine guns and other heavier weapons at nuclear sites across the country.

Both the application filed by Entergy Nuclear, which owns Indian Point, and the NRC’s latest move are rooted in the 2004 expiration of the federal assault-weapons ban and an effort to clarify any differences between national and state laws.

“In certain states, when (the federal ban) expired, there was no longer a federal law that spelled out restrictions on weapons. Now, state law dictates what can and cannot be used,” NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said.

In 2005, President George W. Bush signed legislation giving the NRC the authority to allow plants’ security guards to carry weapons that otherwise would be banned at the state or national level.

In 2009, the NRC began allowing plants to make such “pre-emption authority” requests — something Entergy, two plant owners in California and a supplier of research reactor fuel in Virginia then did in 2011.

“These licensees are requesting that the NRC grant them pre-emption authority because certain federal and state laws would prohibit the possession, use, purchase, and maintenance of weapons and large-capacity ammunition-feeding devices these licensees are currently using for protection of their facilities,” a 2012 NRC memo said.

The NRC hasn’t approved any of the applications yet. In the meantime, it also began seeking public comment last month on the merits of extending the use of heavier firepower to nuclear waste storage facilities.

Neither the NRC nor Entergy will talk about what weapons Indian Point guards carry, except to say the Buchanan plant’s operators are asking for permission to continue carrying “standard” weapons such as handguns, rifles and shotguns, and not “enhanced” weapons, a category that includes machine guns.

Entergy employs more than 200 security personnel at Indian Point. Some guards there appear to carry military-style assault rifles.

“We asked the NRC to confirm that it determines the appropriate security safeguards (including weapons and ammunition) at Indian Point. We sought this to resolve any potential conflicts with state law,” Entergy spokesman Jerry Nappi said in an email.

Sheehan couldn’t say when the NRC will decide on Entergy’s request. He said the plant is adequately protected and the state “has not stepped in in any way to prohibit them from doing anything.”

“Obviously they appreciate the need for these to be hardened targets. Obviously, the NRC doesn’t want to see that changed,” Sheehan said.